Transmission for fishing reels



Nov. 8, 1949 ummm num?

H. M. SEARS ET AL TRANSMISSION FOR FISHING REELS Filed March 11, 1947 annular/fm llllllllllillllllllllllnlull Patented Nov. 8, 1949 rant rence TRANSMISSEN FOR FISHING REELS Hartley M. Sears, Pasadena, and Ted S. Pilueger, Altadena, Calif.

Application March` 11,1947, Serial No. 733,772

17 Claims. (Cl. 744-750) l` This invention relates to shing reels and more particularly but not necessarily to an attachment for a shing reel for selectively varying the speed of the crankV relative tA the speed of the spool or. shaftv of the reel.

On manyoccasions, while shing either in salt orl fresh water, a fisherman is confronted with a situationin Which the speed at which a line is being' reeledl in must be changed rapidly. A-.game iishi hooked on the line may' change direction and'. make a run directly at the` fisherman, thereby' requiring.' that the line' be very rapidly reeled in in order'tc talee up slack. Various and sundry types of mechanisms have heretofore' been' provided for changing the ratio of the speed of the crank or handle of a. fishing reel with the speed of the spool, some of which are gear shifts and other` hydraulic orv otherwise operated. Such constructions are at the expense of the strength ofthe reel and do not operateY with the smooth.

ness required by a skilled operator. Moreover, prior construction involved changes in the body of the reel, were bulky, heavy, and expensive, and in most' instances the advantageous features of standard reels were lost by the inclusion of speed changing arrangements. It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a speed changingy attachment for al fishing reel that may' be installedv on any conventional reel ofstandard type.

Another object is to provide a speed changing attachmentl of the geared type` whereindiiferent ratios of' speed may -be selectively obtained without' disturbing theA mesh of the gears.

Another obj'ect is to provide a novel transmis'- sion which may be readily attachedr to the shaft of a conventional fishing'reel and which will provid'e a plurality of diif'erent speeds between the crank of' the reel and the shaft of the reel.

AnV object. of the inventionalso, is to. provide a transmission for fishing reels, which transmission ydoes not4 alter or interfere with the drag. or friction clutch usually carried by such reels.

Another object'is to provide a speed. changing attachment. for shing reels that may be selectively operated by a manually actuated lever.

Ar further object is to. provide an attachment having the above characteristics that will be compact, rugged, efficient in operation and comn paratively cheap to manufacture.

The above and other objects will .be made apparent throughout the further description of the invention. when taken iny connection with the accompanying drawings wherein' like' reference characters refer to like parts. It isto be distinctlyj understood'l that the drawings are nota denition of the invention. .but merely illustrate and describe' one form by means of which the invention' may be effectuated.

In' the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an exploded View of an attachment embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a partial end elevational view of a reel' broken away yin order to show certain details of the invention taken along the line II-II of Fig. 3*.

Fig. 3 isa vertical sectional view of the attachmentshown mounted on the shaft of a reel taken alongl the line Ill- III of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, a fishing reel represented in its entirety byy lil is shown with the present device mounted on'the conventional shaft H" fromk which the crank or handle l2 has been removed. The present device has been designed so that the conventional handle l2y may be retained since thev handle on some types of reels iis attractiveand expensive. The present device includes' ac revolving plate or head i3 which could be provided with an integral crank, or as shown, be arranged to support the conventional crank'. The latter may be attached to the head i3 by any suitable means such as threaded openings ld here shown adapted to receive screws I4a positioned in: corresponding openingsl in the handle t2.

The head i3y is a flat circular plate which is arranged.' to` turn adjacent. the peripheral edge of a. cylindrical housing I9. The housing I9- is held stationary relative to the reel lil by means of projection or'lug t5 having an eio-ngated slotv lit' fo: receivingI av stud. if?. They stud Il has a threaded portion I8 which may be substituted for one: of the reel :etaining screws 223-. The slot t6; is elongated forv the purpose of adjustmentwhen the attachment is used on reels of differenty diameters.

The housing I9: has a closed bottom 2l with a central opening 22 which receives the lower end 23:01 a tubular member 2li provided withv an integral dange The end 23 is provided with a square opening for receiving-the square portion 2% ofthe shaft H. The flange 2510i the tubular member 26' is circular and rcarriesV thereon a pair of. planetary gears*y 26 diametrically oppositely disposed on theupper face of the flange 25. The gears 21% arev rotatably mounted onv stub shafts 2i" positioned adjacent the edgev ci the flange so that the gear teeth will extend outwardly from.` the edge of the angeand mesh with an internalfgear ttt formed in thestationary housi- 3 ing I9. A washer 32 may be inserted on the shaft between the bottom 2l of the housing I9 and a conventional drag 33 of the'reel I0, said washer bearing against circular shoulder of squared portion 28 of shaft II, so as not to bind action of drag 33.

The outer threaded end of the shaft II, from which the crank nut has been removed, is used to receive an internally threaded bolt 34 which extends through the center of the device and holds the several parts in assembled relation.

The tubular shaft 24 is externally splined at` its outer end for receiving complementary splines of an internally splined disc 35. The disc 35 is rotatably nested in a recess 36 of a disc 31, the latter being rotatably nested in a recess 38 of a disc 39.

The shaft 24 extends through a tubular sleeve 4I, gear member 42, disc 39, disc 31 and connects with complementary spline of disc 35. The sleeve 4I carries a low speed sun gear 43 on its? inner ends which meshes with planetary gears 26. The outer end of sleeve 4I is splined and extends through gear member 42, disc 39 and connects with complementary internal splines of disc 31. The inner face of disc 3S carries a pair of diametrically oppositely disposed planetary gears 44. The high speed sun gears 44 mesh with a gear 45 carried by member 42 and with internal gear 3l. The member 42 is spaced from flange 25 by spacer members 46 a suflicient distance to accommodate gear 43. The member 42 is xed to the flange 25 by means of stud or screw 41 which extends into opening 48 inthe flange 25. The disc 39 is provided with a central opening I having a tubular ange 52 for receiving the sleeve 4| and spacing the disc 39 from member 42 a sufcient distance to accommodate the gears 44.

The bolt 34 extends through an opening 55 in the head I 3 and through the tubular shaft 24 and is threaded onto the shaft II. Each of the discs 35, 31 and 39 is' provided with a plurality of radially disposed spaced openings or recesses 50 on their upper faces for selective engagement with a prong 56 provided on the end of a lever 51. The lever 51 is pivoted on the head I3 as shown at 58. The vprong 56 extends through an elongated slot 59 provided in the head I3 and is arranged to be manually moved for selective engagement with the openings 56 in the discs 35, 31

or 39. The discs 35, 31 and 39 are nested in one another and their upper faces lie in the same plane.

The present device provides three different speed ratios between the crank I2 and the shaft I I. When a direct drive lbetween the crank I2 and shaft II is desired, the operator moves the lever 51 to engage the prong 56 with one of the openings 50 in the disc 35, the latter being connected to the splined end of shaft 24. Since the shaft 24 is rlxedly mounted on the square portion 28 of shaft Il, the shaft II will rotate in unison with the head I3 in response to turning the head I3 by the crank I2. When it is desired to rotate the shaft II slower than the crank I2, the operator moves the lever 5'. to engage the prong 56 in one of the openings 5D in the disc .31, the latter .being spline connected to the end of sleeve 4I. The shaft II will now be rotated by way of gear 43 and planetary gears 26, the latter meshing with the stationary internal gear 3I. When it is desired to increase the speed of the shaft II relative to the crank I2 the operator moves the lever 51.to engage the prong 56 in one of the openings in the disc 39 at which time the shaft II will be rotated by Way of disc 39, planetary gears 44 which mesh with gear 45 and the internal gear 3i, gear member 42, studs 41 and flange 25, the latter being xedly mountedon shaft I I by means of the square opening in portion 23 and the complementary portion 28 of shaft I I.

Accordingly there is provided a transmission that may be attached to the shaft of a conventional flshing reel that will provide different speed ratios Ibetween the crank and the shaft Without disturbing the mesh of the gears. The attachment is compact, durable and-may be readily and easily operated to provide the desired speed of the spool of a fishing reel. It will be noted that by reason of the inter-nested sleeve and spline assembly an extremely compact transmission has been provided. The outer diameter of cylindrical housing I9 is smaller than the diameter of star drag 33, The entire unit is readily attached by the -bolt 34. Speed changes are attained by moving the readily accessible lever 51 and its prong 56, and the prong 56 moves in a single plane t0- ward and away from the axis of rotation of the entire assembly. While the present device has been illustrated and described as an attachment for a fishing reel it will be obvious that the device may be built into the reel as standard equipment. Other chan-ges, substitutions, additions and modifications may be made in the device without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

We claim:

l. A transmission for a fishing reel having a shaft comprising a housing fixed relative to said reel, an internal gear carried by said housing, a plurality of sets of planetary gears, a separate sun gear meshing with each of said sets of planetary gears, and selective means for causingone of said sun gears to drive one set lof said planetary gears or causing another set of planetary gears to drive another one of said sun gears, the said means including a plurality of actuating means for selectively actuating said planetary gears and said sun gears.

2. In a transmission attachment for a shing reel having a drive shaft, a crank, a transmission means connecting said crank with said shaft, said transmission means including a stationary housing provided with a fixed internal gear and a plurality of sets of planetary gears in the housing, each set having a separate sun gear, said planetary gears meshing with the com-mon xed internal gear, all of said gears being disposed within the housing, and manually operated means for transmitting rotation of the crank to a selected set of planetary gears and sun gear to provide different speed ratios between crank and shaft.

3. A transmission attachment of the character stated in claim 2, including: a separate driving disc for each of the sets of planetary gears and a further driving disc for one of said sun gears, said manually operable means being arranged to selectively engage a desired driving disc.

4. A transmission attachment of the character stated in claim 2, including: a separate driving disc for each -of the sets of planetary gears and a further driving disc for one of said sun gears, all of said driving discs being arranged in nested, coaxial relation with portions in a common plane transverse to their axis of rotation, said manually operable means including a member movable along said common plane to selectively engage a desired driving disc.

5. A transmission attachment for use on a fishing reel provided with a main drive shaft, comprising: a cylindrical housin-g provided with means for flxedly connecting it to a reel, said housing being adapted to axially receive one end of the main drive shaft; an internal gear carried by the housing; a flanged member provided with a ses of planetary gears in engagement with the internal gear, said flanged member being connected to the main drive shaft, and a drivingdisc carried by said flanged member; a sleeve provided with a different driving disc and a sun gear in engagement with the set of planetary gears; a separate set of planetary gears carried by a further driving disc; a second sun gear operably carried by the flanged member, said separate set of planetary gears being in engagement with said second sun gear and the internal gear; and means includinga crank for selectively imparting rotation to a desired driving disc to vary the speed of rotation of the main drive shaft.

6. A transmission attachment of the character stated in claim 5, wherein the three driving discs are in nested, separately rotatable relation, and include portions lying in a common plane, said portions being selectively engageable to impart rotation to a desired driving disc.

7. A transmission for a fishing reel having a shaft comprising: a crank, transmission means connecting said crank with said shaft, said transmission means including a housing having an internal gear therein and fixed thereto and a plurality of sets of planetary gears, each set having a sun gear, all of the said gears being disposed in said housing with the said planetary gears meshing with said internal gear, and separate means for selectively connecting said crank lwith a desired set of sun and planetary gears for providing different speed ratios between the said crank and said shaft.

8. A transmission in accordance with claim 7, wherein the said separate means includes a plurality of discs arranged in nested relation and turnable relative to each other.

9. A compact transmission comprising: a crank, a stationary housing, an internal gear fixed to and carried by said housing, a plurality of sets of planetary gears, a sun gear meshing with each of said sets of planetary gears, manually operated means for causing one of said sun gears to drive one set of said planetary gears and manually operated means for causing another set of said planetary gears to drive another one of said sun gears.

disposed in said housing and having the said planetary gears meshing with said internal gear, and manually operated means including a crank for selectively driving the said sets of sun and# planetary gears lwhereby to provide different speed ratios between the said shaft and said crank.`

13. A transmission in accordance with claim 12 wherein means are provided for connecting the said crank with said shaft to provide a 1:1 speed ratio between said crank and said shaft.

14. A shaft, a transmission for said shaft, said transmission comprising: a crank; a stationary housing; an internal gear carried by said housing; a plurality of sets of sun and planetary gears disposed in said housing with said planetary gears meshing with said internal gear; and manuallyA operated means for selectively causing the planetary gears of one set to drive its associated sun gear or causing the sun gear of another set to drive its associated planetary gears whereby to provide different speed ratios between said crank and said shaft.

l5. A transmission comprising: a crank, a

.transmission attachment mounted on said shaft,

said attachment including a stationary housing, an internal gear within said housing and fixed relative thereto, a plurality of sets of sun and planetary gears disposed in said housing, said planetary gears meshing with said internal gear, and means including a plurality of discs for selectively driving a desired set of sun and planetary gears, whereby to provide different speed ratios between the said shaft and the said crank.

16. A transmission in accordance with claim 15, wherein manual means is provided for selectively connecting said crank with said discs.

17. A transmission for Aattachment to driven mechanism having a shaft, said transmission being adapted to be mounted on said shaft and comprising a housing fixed against rotation relative to said mechanism, said housing having an internal gear therein and fixed thereto, a plurality of sets of sun and planetary gears disposed in said housing and having the said planetary gears meshing with said internal gear and manually operated means including a crank for selectively driving the said sets of sun and planetary gears whereby to provide different speed ratios between the said shaft and said crank.

HARTLEY M. SEARS. TED S. PFLUEGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 986,588 OKelley Mar. 14, 1911 1,256,372 Rowledge Feb. 12, 1918 1,695,214 Sorensen Dec. 11, 1928 2,011,998 Clark Aug. 20, 1935 2,327,740 Pfister Aug. 24, 1943 2,406,156 Nardone Aug. 20, 1946 2,417,732 Bland etal Mar. 18, 1947 

